Sunday, August 31, 2014

Y6 D98

Let's get the big issue out of the way first - something in my right leg last night went POP and now I can't walk without a cane. I can just barely put weight on my left leg but it is screaming at me. Yes, I am going to urgent care shortly. I will have more information later.

This really sucks too because things were going well yesterday. We started the day with 12 boxes remaining and we now have 4. Two of those I can't do anything with as one is electronics I am not planning on using here and the other is art which we just need to figure out where to put. I need to go through the remaining two boxes today to see what is in them. Hopefully my cane is in them. I borrowed one from a friend last night but it's a little tall for me. We worked our butts off until about 6:30 and then I made dinner. First cooked meal here! Made pork chops, couscous, and salad. Simple yet nice. At 9 we headed to our friend's house as were carpooling with him.

Got to the show around 10:30 and things were okay. No issues between me and the director. One hand I am glad we are moving forward, on the other I would still like an apology. I was on stage doing emcee and I turned and it felt like someone threw a baseball at the back of my leg and I heard a loud pop. I went right down. No standing. Just flat out down. I went into the lobby and iced it and took a vicodin. I have been in pain since 12:15am. Everyone wanted me to go to emergency but I wanted to gauge how bad. After about an hour I was able to stand and put some weight on it which means it probably isn't the achilles like last time. It is probably a tendon tear or pull, but I won't know for sure until later.

Managed to get back down to the front and directed my crew from there. We got through the show and headed home. And here we are. More later.

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Y6 D97

Holy shit! I slept in until 8! The first time in weeks I have not been up at 5am. Incredible!

Yesterday was one of those rare days where it was a good day both professionally and personally. On the work side, I got through class without any issues. We finished up early and on top of it, I got an email that the folks in St Louis were extremely happy with what I did for them while I was out there. It was a great email to read especially after Tuesday's person not liking my style.

When class was done, B and I took a ride to the next city over, which is 14 miles away, to look at a desk. Originally I was thinking about replacing this desk with one with a hutch to have more storage space. Unfortunately the desk I was looking at has too small an opening for my computer. Like just an inch too small. That's what she said.

We ended up walking around the shopping center where the store was and I got a new pair of sandals from Payless. There was also a Ross there and B found this horrid cat painting which she loved. Sigh. Yes, I got it for her. It is now hanging in our bedroom.

We got back around 4 and decided to get wingstop to go. That way we would have food in the house and not have to worry about going back out. We started in on our boxes somewhere around 6. B wanted to help but I really needed to tackle it alone to feel like something was accomplished. Well it was. We have 8 boxes remaining. We hung pictures, shelves, and figured out where the rest are going. The office is now functional. There are only three boxes left in here. There's only 8 total left in the whole place. I can actually close the closet door in the office. I got up and didn't trip over a single box this morning. We finished up around midnight and as we were taking a load to the garbage she told me she could just see the tension rolling off me. She was right. I finally feel like we are making headway. I should be able to get at least 2 or 3 of the remaining 8 done today. 3 or 4 of them are going into 'storage' of some type so it's only one maybe two that I need to figure out. Compares to early in the week where I was surrounded by 50 boxes, it's so much more doable.

Today we have some errands to run in the morning. I am also going to fire up the motorcycle and take it for a ride. It needs to be opened up. Then tonight we have a show. Our first since all the shit went down three weeks ago. This should be interesting. I am emcee tonight as well. I am looking forward to that part of tonight.

Friday, August 29, 2014

Y6 D96

Things are a little better. We managed to get some stuff hung yesterday which cleared up a few more boxes and more importantly floor space where some other things needed to go. We are in that cycle phase where "I can't do this until this is moved but that can't move until that is moved". So we end up chasing our tails trying to move things as few of times as possible.

Taught. Class went okay. Small class and we are way ahead of schedule. I honestly could finish this class by lunch today if I pushed it. Both of my students are at the same company and have a very good understanding of the product. All the basic stuff is already known. Which meant they were quiet and didn't ask any questions.

After class I started in on boxes. We went out to dinner with a friend for his birthday and got home around 9. B and I watched some TV then I headed to bed around 11:30. She stayed up until I don't know when. Let's go check twitter... 12:30. Not too bad. She was playing Sims and must have gotten distracted.

Last day of class. Get through this and I have three days to relax. I might even sleep in until 7 tomorrow!

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Y6 D95

The boxes just keep coming even though we have purchased bookcases and now last night a storage tub for the patio. It's getting better in here, but not good enough that I am satisfied. I am still losing my shit on a regular basis. I trip over things, I bump into things, etc. Tonight's goal is to hang some shelves in the office. That will help reduce things by at least two or three boxes. It will also help get some stuff off the floor.

Class went fine yesterday. I was the most boring person I could be. I was polite, understated, and just taught to the material. I thought I was going to die. At least I felt dead doing it. I can't teach like that. But if it made everyone happy then fine. Got through class and finished around 2:30. I needed a nap bad. Slept until 4 at which B and I went out to get a second bookcase and the above mentioned storage tub. Came back home, assembled things, put things away. I then finished wiring up the speakers for the TV. Because of the layout of the room, there is no need to put all 7 speakers up. I only wired the fronts, center, and sub. No surround speakers at all. Kind of bugs me, but it does look cleaner for sure.

I took a break and watched some TV. Decided to watch a random and settled on Leverage. We have like 10 episodes left and we are done with it. Did some more organizing and went to bed around 11. B wasn't ready for bed yet and came in around 1. I can't wait until the weekend. I get three days where I can actually sleep past 5 am. Even with a show on Saturday, I am looking forward to do things around here at a slow relaxed pace.

Two more days of a new group starting today. This is a small class - only 2 students. Which means we will finish early for sure both days. They are at the same company too which helps. Let's see how sharp they are.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Y6 D94

Yesterday was a better day. Personally at least. Seems I offended a student somehow during my class though. After class I got an email from my boss saying one of the students complained that I was 'talking too much about non-work things'. Um. Okay. You know, I strive hard to find that balance between boring stuff instructor and casual kind of instructor. Some folks like the more personal class other get bent that it's not all by the book. Whatever. It's always tougher with an online class versus in person. In person you have a better chance of connecting. Online you're kind of just this voice in the wind and have to be careful how you do. Today is the last day with this group so I will just get through the material and be as professional as possible. I honestly thought I was keeping the chatter to a minimum but not enough apparently.

Personally we did pretty good last night. We ended up buying a couple of inexpensive bookcases, one for the front room and one for the office. We focused on the front room and went through a good 10-15 boxes. We have way more books than this poor little case can handle, but I felt better going through, consolidating some, unpacking most, and at least identifying what is in everything. I think that by this weekend we can have enough done that it won't feel so overwhelming.

We also had dinner with some friends which was nice. B is doing some side work for one of them for her wedding planning business. We needed to meet up with them to pick up the next batch of stuff to work on and they suggested we meet for dinner. We ended up at a Golden Corral buffet. Oh my. Too much food. I am paying for it this morning.

When we got home we put together one of the new bookcases and went off to bed around 11. I am still very tired and am looking forward to the weekend. Monday is a holiday which will help.

Tonight I am debating something. There is a company get together but it's 90 minutes away by car and 2 hours away by public trans plus car. I don't have to go, but... Yeah, one of those things. I will decide later.

Looks like my sister finally got some good news too. Her husband has landed a new job and they are able to move forward again. Very happy for her. She needs a break even more than me. I wish she lived closer so I could give her all these boxes.

Anyway, last day. Let's do this.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Y6 D93

I am feeling overwhelmed and frustrated again. Too many boxes surrounding me. I feel like I am buried in things and can't dig my way out. It's an awful feeling because it makes me shut down.

That Network Extender I bought doesn't work either. I don't know if it is not compatible with my network or if it is a defective unit. Regardless it doesn't work and it is pissing me off. So are the lack of closets. And the amount of shit I apparently own.

Class was fine yesterday. A little boring to be honest. Another day of that today. I isolated myself from B last night. I didn't want human interaction. Deja vu all over again.

Thoughts are all over the place today. Too much sadness inside me. Have to squash it down and pretend to get through class. It's what I do.

Monday, August 25, 2014

Y6 D92

Hello? Hello?? Sorry. I can't hear shit this morning. Too much ringing in my ears from last night still. Just got home less than five hours ago from one of the best shows I have seen in YEARS.

I got up around 7 I think it was, which is down right sleeping in for me. I was going to let B sleep until about 10 but she woke up freaking out because she thought the cats were fighting when in fact it was two cats right outside our bedroom window. In addition her phone was flooded with messages. There was a 6.0 earthquake about 70 miles from us at 4am and no, neither of us felt it, but her family wanted to make sure we hadn't fallen into the ocean. Nope, we're still here. Either way, she was up.

She has been doing some sidework for our friend's wedding planning business which has been good so she got up and worked on that to take care of it. We finished up around 11 and dropped the stuff off on our way to the old place. Before we got there, we stopped at the Verizon store for me to buy a signal booster. Neither of us can get over one bar here and that is unacceptable for me for work. I need to have a clean signal obviously. The signal boosters essentially turn your phone into UMA mode and let it piggyback off your network. They had one in stock at the store by the old place. I expensed it since I use my phone so much for work. I will be putting that into my expense report tonight.

After we dropped off the keys and went to the bookstore to kill some time. After we grabbed some food and then headed to the venue. Our friends work security and parking at this venue and saved us a prime spot in the VIP lot. Right across from the entrance area. Sweet! We got in the will call/pre-sale line to get our ticket. As we were waiting I started posting stuff and saw one of our other friends was there. Once we got inside around 5:30 we managed to meet up with him. We were in Row J and he was in O but he ended up being able to hang out with us all night as there was an empty seat next to B all night. He was there by himself and it made me feel good to be able to have him right there with us.

Cold Cave opened and as was par for the night, they were right on time. Not bad. I didn't know who they were but I would listen again. At 7:45 - 9 Soundgarden came out. It was a best of kind of playset but that worked. They sounded great. Then at 9:30 NIN took the stage. What a show. 90 minutes of excellence. I don't even have words for it to be honest. I was so blown away by the performance. By the time everything was done we were on the road at 11:15 and home around 12:15.

A long but satisfying day.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Y6 D91

Major things! First off apparently there was an earthquake a few hours ago. Nothing felt here. I slept right through it. Well maybe I did. I woke up around the time of it, but I think was just me waking up not the earthquake. Second, IT'S NIN DAY! WOOOO!! It's going to be a long day just like yesterday was, but at least I get to see Trent Reznor! In a perfect world I will get to meet him too. I can dream dammit!

So yesterday. I woke up at 5 and started breaking down anything that was left over. That really meant the air mattress, the desk, the computers, the bathroom, and some odds and ends. After what felt like 42 trips to the dumpster, I had it down to one small area worth of stuff. I then went ahead and started loading my car. I had the majority of stuff done and in my car by 7. That gave me two hours to kill until other people arrived. Sigh. I hate waiting on other people. I decided fuck it, I will go get food to kill some time. I went and had taco bell for breakfast. Yeah, it was nasty at 7 am but it filled me up which was good because I didn't get to eat again until 2. While I waited, I talked with our cast advisor. I sent a nice email out with my upcoming schedule and of course received no reply. She was curious to know if I got a reply as I BCC'd her on it. We spent about 30 minutes bitching about our director.

My friends showed up with their truck at 9:45 and we loaded things up. We were at the new place by 11. Took about 30 minutes to unload everything and then I went and got groceries and BBQ for everyone who helped. Everyone took off around 1:30. Including B. She went with two of our friends to go see a special drag show of Showgirls in the city. I was of course invited, but I knew I had to focus on getting the office setup no matter what. I have a class to teach all week and my priority was taking care of that so I didn't have to stress about it today.

I started in with trying to figure out the best way to make the office navigable. That meant I first had to deal with the closet. Oh my what an adventure. I then realized I had to empty out some storage tubs filled with books in order to put the clothes I don't wear regularly in them. That was the theme of the afternoon - in order to do this, I must do this, but to do that, I have to do that. Finally by six, I had the closet 'done' and the computers all set up with Internet. Major accomplishment. I then took a ride over to Best Buy and Walmart to get things off B's list she has been keeping all week. It wasn't too bad - she wanted things like an extender chain for the fan, a water filter, etc. I took care of all that, came back, and decided fuck it. I am going to take care of the big elephant in the room, the TV and entertainment center. If I do that it will make the living room livable and get rid of multiple boxes. I had disassembled things for the move and first had to find a manual online. I did even better! I found a video. It was perfect. I was able to get the thing built in about an hour. The hard part was lifting the TV by myself, but got that done too. With that done I then tried to find all the electronics. I found most but couldn't find one major thing, the Apple TV. Kind of the crux of our whole system. I spent forever looking for it which turned into me opening more boxes and putting other things away. I got her filter installed, the showerhead in my bathroom installed, more stuff in the kitchen put away, found more clothes (NO!), but alas, didn't find the hockey puck. I need to just go box by box at this point. I need to re-organize the remaining boxes. But not today. Today I NIN.

Around midnight I got a text from B with an update. They were having food and by the time they got on public transportation, etc, they planned to be home by 3. Okay. I was going to stay up until 1 for her as I was doing things, but that was enough for me to crash. I was in bed by 12:30am. I woke up at 2, no B. Woke up again at 4. B! I guess she really did get home at 3.  I will let her sleep until about 11 today and then we are off!

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Y6 D90

If there end up being two posts with the same name, it's not my fault. Fucking internet. Ugh.

Anyway, I made it back in one piece. Relatively uneventful trip. My first flight was wonderful. Had my upgrade and 1st class was half full. It was wonderful trip. Dallas was as always, Dallas. 11th on the upgrade list, stuck behind people who wouldn't shut up, bumpy ride. But I made it back on time and in one piece. My driver dropped me off at the old place and I started doing more work.  I talked with my boss and we walked through the next 8-10 weeks. I have another 4-5 trips during that time. As a result I will miss some october shows. Oh well. I did send out a polite emails to our directors and my co-head of tech with when I am and not available. No response. Gee what a shock. I also went to the bank, the bookstore, picked up B's ring at the jeweler (it was being sized), got spackle for the walls, picked up my pills, and got food for dinner. Not too shabby eh? I booked flights and cars. I spackled walls. I boxed up the remaining stuff here. I was so exhausted I passed out on the air mattress at 9pm. I was done. Just done.

Now today I have to load the car with all this remaining stuff and the cat and head home. But tomorrow, tomorrow is NIN!

Friday, August 22, 2014

Y6 D89

Another day where I am up as most of the people I know are going to bed. Another day where I will be up for 20+ hours if I am lucky it's not more. It's 3:25 where I am. Heading out to the airport in about 30 minutes.

Finished up class yesterday. Everything went fine, no issues. As a matter of fact, before class my contact and I discussed another 2 day session possibly in November or December. That would be more miles for me. I will probably get stuck in Dallas again, but whatever. Grabbed a sandwich after class, finished Season 1 of Hemlock Grove, fell asleep on the couch. Woke up and decided screw it, I am going to bed. That was around 9. I managed to get in about 6 hours of decent sleep. Of course it's on the last night I am here.

That's the extent of my day. Whee.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Y6 D88

16 minutes until I can check in for my flight. I am out of upgrades unfortunately which sucks balls but whatever. I just want to get 'home' wherever that may be right now. I am still stuck between two places and when you add to that my travels, I am stuck between many more.

New group yesterday and it was a full class. I wasn't feeling it but I am a professional and the minute class started I put on my game face. I smiled, I dazzled, I tripped the light fantastic for them. Finished up around 4:30 and headed back to the hotel.

Did not feel like going out or doing anything last night so I ordered in room service. Food was pretty good. Had a nice cheese and fruit platter with a corned beef sandwich and apple pie for dessert. I then sat on the couch watching Hemlock and fell asleep for about 20 minutes. I didn't mean to, it just kind of happened. Luckily it was still early enough and the time was brief enough I didn't mess up my overall sleep pattern for the night. I talked to B for a while and she updated me on everything she has managed to get done at the new place. I am curious to see how it looks. I won't be there until Saturday as I have to spend Friday at the old place cleaning but I am looking forward to seeing what she has done. I am also looking forward to NIN on Sunday. Just got to make it to Sunday. Seems so far away and yet right around the corner.

11 minutes. One more day of training and I am done. Another travel day looms.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Y6 D87

I slept like shit last night. Tossing and turning. Too much on my mind, too many time changes, too many emails and texts after a decent time. I am stressed out. I am stressed out about upcoming shows, about upcoming training gigs, about dealing with all the boxes at home. Just stressed out. I need a fucking break where I am not working, packing, or dealing with anything. I think it's time for a Disneyland trip except I have no time for one of those either. Maybe in November. Maybe.

Class went well yesterday no issues there at least. Pretty uneventful class. Got out of there around 4:30, headed back to the hotel, found a Chinese place next door to the hotel that actually did pretty decent thai food in addition to Chinese food. Ate it in the room. Watched more Hemlock Grove and dealt with emails and bullshit.

Went to bed around 10. Woke up at 12. And 2. And 5. Fuck this.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Y6 D86

Made it to Ohio finally. Got here earlier than planned which was nice. I got up yesterday, took my time leaving the hotel and got to the airport around 9am. I was confirmed on a 6pm flight but knew there was also a noon and a 3pm I could play the standby game on. I ended up getting on the noon and getting the same 1st class seat I had on the same flight the day before. I was just 24 hours off. I arrived in Ohio around 4:30 and was in the hotel around 5. Checked in, went to CVS for Rockstars, Jimmy John's for a sandwich, and that was my day. Airport. Hotel. Whee. Tried watching some stuff. First I tried watching Lords of Salem. It's just a bad movie. I couldn't take it. Then I watched two episodes of Hemlock Grove. I am not sure about that just yet. We shall see.

Discussed with the client what to do about the lost day and we have added an extra day on in September.

Talked with B during the day to keep her posted. I was exhausted and fell asleep around 9:30 only to be woken up at 11 by a slew of texts and emails. It seems our directors want to add an eighth October show and everyone was asking me if they are out of their minds. B flat out told me no we won't do another show and I agree with her. Between travel and the other shows already scheduled it's too much. There's no way we can do it. Especially since it is about 100 miles from any of our normal theaters which would make it 150+ miles for us. Nope. Ain't happening.

I managed to fall back to sleep around midnight. Luckily I don't have to leave here for another 2 hours.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Y6 D85

Waking up in Dallas unplanned is a weird way to start one's day. I should be in Ohio right now starting a class. Instead I am sitting in a $400 a night room in Dallas. Why? Weather. It's always weather.

I left the house yesterday at 4am, got to the airport and had no problem on my first flight in to DFW. Had my upgrade, was fed a decent breakfast, no issues. I arrived and my flight was fine. The pilot on the way in announced there were some thunderstorms and we would have a bumpy ride in, but it shouldn't be an issue. We did have a bumpy ride but we landed.

It appeared my flight was on time and there were no problems. Then 20 minutes before it was supposed to board, flight 1 canceled. I dealt with rescheduling from a 12:30 flight to a 3:30 flight. At 2, that got canceled. The six pm then got canceled. I am now on a 6pm flight tonight. I am going to the airport shortly to see about standing by for the 12 or 3 today, but worse case I will get to Ohio at 10pm EST.

When the last flight got canceled I called Hilton who gave me excellent service btw, and told them to change my existing reservation and find me a room. I didn't care how much. I wanted the nicest hotel in town. I was pissed off and frustrated. Got here around 4. Caught B up on everything, caught the client up on everything, found the bar. I then proceeded to drink for 5 hours. I was just fed up.

Got back to the room around 9:30 and blacked out. No gilding the lily on this one. I had a fall down cold night last night. Luckily I ate 4 advil and got my contacts out first.

Now to see about getting to Ohio.

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Y6 D84

Well we did it! We are all (99%) moved into the new place. I say 99% because I am at the old place right now typing away. I had to be here this morning for car service to pick me up for the airport and I left this computer here. There's also some random shit we left behind like garbage and the cat. We took one cat yesterday to let her get used to the new place first and then I am bringing my cat next Saturday. Don't worry. She has food, a bed, etc. Basically a mini office still for her to be in.

We got up at 5, checked in for my flight (confirmed 1st class on both flight todays thank you very much), started loading at 6, the pros came at 7 to do the major stuff and we had that truck packed and done by 8:30. We hit the new place a little before 10 and had everything unloaded by 11:15. I ordered pizza for everyone and then B and I undertook the task of unpacking. At 6 we had a good list of things we needed like hangers, shoe rack, and screws. Off to the walmart. I can't believe we are going in there, but it's the closest and cheapest and it's 24 hours. Sigh. Whatever it works.

I left around 8 to come back here. She has a busy week ahead of her trying to get as much done without me as possible but I asked her to focus on a couple of specific areas to make it easy when I get there on Saturday. Yes, I am gone a whole week this time which really sucks.

I will be teaching away starting tomorrow. Today, I travel. No news on the whole drama from last weekend. Let's keep it that way.

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Y6 D83

There are three strange men sleeping around my bare bones apartment right now. Not strange as in I don't know them, just strange. Yeah, it was that kind of day. I wasn't scheduled to get the truck until this morning but through a bunch of flukes I ended up getting it last night which led to three of the people helping coming over yesterday and staying the night. We got up and finalized as much as we could without the truck when I got an email confirming my reservation. They moved my pickup place 26 miles away. I called and raised a stink which ended up moving it a lot closer. It got moved to an independent U-Haul rep and as a result I was able to call him and arrange for pickup last night. We spent the day arranging as much as we could and then around 7 picked up the truck. From 8 until 11 we started loading. We have well over half of the truck done. What stopped us are the big things that I need the pros for this morning. They will be here at 6:30. Once they are here we will be able to finish up and move forward. I am going to start bringing everything else down to the street until they get here. This way as soon as they have the fridge, bed, and clock loaded, everything else can go right in. I am anticipating we can be on the road by 8:30. This will mean we start unloading by 10, done by 12 or 1. That gives me enough time to head back here for car service in 22 hours. I just wish I didn't have to go to Ohio this week. But at the same time I need a break. I need to get away from boxes and moving. I will be gone until Friday when I come back here and pack up this computer into my car. As well as any left behind things and cleaning. They did the pre-move walkthrough with us yesterday and the only thing they want us to do is patch any small holes and clean counters and cabinets. I can handle that. I hear snoring behind me. It's amusing. Okay, time to shower and tax my body.

Friday, August 15, 2014

Y6 D82

Been up for a while, but needed to pay bills and do address changes. I have a few more to go, but I knocked out everything that was due and changed the addresses when I paid them. Nothing like sending out $1000 in bills. I wish my $3000 from the state would hurry up. I have already resent them the damn return. Sigh.

Yesterday was pretty mellow. We took care of some odds and ends but it was a down day. I had a couple of calls for work that I handled. We also took a bunch of books over to a local game store and traded them in for store credit. I had about 30 role playing books and I didn't want to pack or move them. I didn't use them and frankly they were given to me so it's not like I spent any money on them. In trade we got a couple of card games (new version of Fluxx, Aquarius, and Dr Who) and some dice. Much easier to pack and a lot lighter.

We came back and just hung out. We played one of the new games, then went out for mexican. One of our friends came over and we re-homed the microwave to her and her boyfriend. Our new place has a built in and we didn't want to lug the one we had nor see it go to a stranger. It was a $200 microwave and I 'sold' it to her for $20. She wouldn't take it for free and I wouldn't accept a lot of money. Everyone was happy. They left around 11 and we went off to bed.

Today is a big day. If ain't nailed down, it gets packed is today's motto. I also have to put the battery in the motorcycle to make sure it's ready for tomorrow. The last time I tried it wouldn't hold a charge so I need to make sure it will start before tomorrow morning. I may be making a trip to the bike store since this one has a warranty.

That's about it. Got a check in reminder for the next show. Hm. Maybe I will let that sit for a while.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Y6 D81

We had a busy day yesterday. So busy I almost forgot to call my sister. Luckily B and I remembered in the early evening. So for the record, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Yesterday.

We Took over B's car to the new place yesterday filled to the brim as well as my car and our friend's car. We made a decent dent in stuff. We headed over there around 10, got there at 11:15, and had everything unloaded by 1. We then spent the next three hours putting things away, making a walmart trip for bathroom stuff, and having dinner. We got back here around 8 and veg'd out. We were both exhausted from the day. We definitely got a lot done and we were able to start visualizing where some of the stuff will go on Saturday.

Made for a boring but productive day. No further updates on the drama from the other night luckily. Thank goodness we don't have a show for a couple more weeks. Give things time to calm down.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Y6 D80

Guess what we did yesterday? More packing! Whee! Note the heavy sarcasm. Sigh. Today we are taking B's car and three carloads of stuff over to try and minimize the amount going on Saturday. It won't be a lot in the grand sense but it will make us feel better.

That really was all we did yesterday. We packed. And packed some more. Took care of the pantry which is going over today. There's still so much stuff it's crazy. We took a break and went to target at one point to get a stepping stool for B. The new place has pretty tall cabinets in the kitchen and she won't be able to reach them. We picked up some food for dinner too. Three more days.

The pros I hired to help on the loading end called to confirm yesterday. They were not happy to hear they are moving a fridge and down a flight of stairs. Tough. This is why you have been hired. Deal with it.

I also decided to update my Robin Williams library and downloaded 39 of his movies. I now have a complete essential library. They are still in the process of converting. 7 more to go from last night.

Oh and we had the sex. Yay for being home again.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Y6 D79

Okay, here's what happened:

Sunday during the day we got a text from our director who we have intentionally not told we were moving because we knew she would worry. It seems a mutual friend mentioned they saw our new place. She freaked out that we told 'everyone' but her and went radio silent until 1:45am when after drinking she decided we were going to be her scapegoats for everything else wrong in her life. She made two posts on facebook which were rude, condescending, and flat out mean. She uninvited us to her husband's birthday party and on Facebook, told us we were off cast. B was still awake when she saw those messages and saw I had a text. She read my phone and woke me up. This was 2:15. I called them right then and there. We were having a good day until all this. I tried talking with them but they were so drunk it became her yelling at me telling me how much I lie, and I am untrustworthy, and act like a teenage girl with my 'cliques'. Compare that to her husband telling me how much of a pain in the ass she is, how he will be at our wedding even if she isn't, etc. Mixed message central. If it wasn't for B, I would have told them both to go fuck themselves. B is afraid of losing the friends she has made because they will all be turned against us. No matter how much I tried to assure her that wouldn't happen didn't help. In the end I was up until almost 4. I managed to fall back to sleep until 7 thankfully.

Got up at 7, took care of emails, timesheets, expense reports, and made a couple of phone calls for work stuff. During all that I wrote a letter to our cast advisor explaining what happened and how hurt we were. She called me back later and we discussed things. She 100% understands if we decide to not go to any shows for a while. Teach our director a lesson that she can't abuse people like this. To the best of HER knowledge, we were in fact NOT kicked off cast.

I needed to wait for one more receipt to come from the car company from last week and while that was happening, B and I did some more packing. Things are almost done. Some random odds and ends for today and tomorrow. Tomorrow we are taking a load over to the new place along with her car. Some friends are going with us so we are loading up three vehicles with boxes. We kind of know which boxes are going with us.

During all this, the husband called. He too confirmed we are not off cast and told me some of what was going on in their lives. Turns out his son has Crohn's Disease at 19 and this was part of what triggered his wife to lash out. While I am empathetic I also told him how hurt we were. He had no good justification for his wife but apologized and told us how much he appreciates what we do for them. While that helped, it still doesn't resolve the issue. I am still pissed off and hurt.

After that I worked on a new training document for work. I am putting together an SPSS Modeler class and finished the strawman yesterday. For dinner we had taco bell because frankly there's little to no food here and there's no room.

I also managed to get a hold of the Franchise Tax Board. They did in fact lose my return. I had to make a copy of mine after luckily figuring out which box it was in. Mailed that off. In 2-4 weeks I should see my money. It will help after this move that's for sure. After paying 2 rents, bills, and a truck, I have $500 to last me through the week. I was able to pay $2100 to two places mind you in a two week period so it's not like I couldn't do it, it just drained me. The $3200 from the state will put me back where I need to be.

B and I watched Jumanji last night after hearing about the tragedy of Robin Williams dying. That is a serious tragedy to say the least. Someone I grew up with and loved. Goes to show, even those who make us laugh the most are suffering themselves.

We looked up some storage units near the new place because we have decided not everything is going to fit as well. Plus there's things B doesn't want out. Fair enough. We found one for $40 a month which will give us more room in the new place. I am trying to work with her on this. I want her to feel like this is her place not just mine that she moved into.

Went to bed around 10:30 exhausted as it was a full day. Today is going to be final packing and organizing.

Oh and guess what? We were re-invited to the birthday party this morning. Go figure.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Y6 D78

Why am I up at 3:30? Because people are childish drunks that don't deserve my friendship. Right now, that's all I want to say about the situation. I am still pissed off and don't want to go into it.

Woke up around 10, packed, moved things around, took a nap, made tacos for dinner, watched Misfits, had sex, got kicked off cast, and there's why I am awake.

Yeah.

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Y6 D77

We just woke up. One of the few times we have woken up at the same time. I guess my body needed some sleep finally. It didn't help we didn't go to bed until 2. We were supposed to stay up that late. Technically we weren't supposed to even come home. Allow me to explain.

We got the keys to the new place yesterday. We headed over there around 10. On the way we stopped at my client that is in that area to see if I could find my phone charger but alas it was no longer there. I don't know if someone stole it or if someone was able to pick it up for me. But either way it was no longer there.

I was stressing about one thing yesterday and that was our renter's insurance. The new place wouldn't let us have the keys without proof of a policy. My agent was out of town. I was trying to reach him and he couldn't be reached. He couldn't write the policy until he had pictures, I couldn't get the keys to take pictures without a policy. Sigh. In the end I ended up working with the people in the office and doing a policy on the spot with the people they use. The best part was their policy was about $9 a month cheaper than my guy so I may just keep this policy. By noon we had the keys, did the walkthrough, and we were all set in the new place. We only brought a couple of things with us as we are getting the moving truck next weekend but it was still nice to be done. Next up was making sure we had internet  which ended up being a 36 minute phone call with Comcast. Turns out they messed up which modem was supposed to be at which address and we had to switch the MAC addresses. Annoying but now we have service at both locations. We decided to spend the night there as we wanted to see some friends and didn't want to worry about driving back.

That meant a trip to target for an air mattress, stuff for the bathroom, etc. Our friends weren't going to be available until after 6 and we had to see them because they had B's wedding dress. Yes, her $200 dress from China arrived. We ended up exploring our new area, going to target and when we realized we still had major time to kill, saw a movie. We saw Guardians of the Galaxy. Even though I had already watched a ripped version of it, it's so good I didn't care. B loved it. I loved seeing it again. The timing worked out perfect. Our friends came over around 6:30, B tried on her dress, and we went out for some dinner. The dress is almost perfect. It needs some slight alterations but even with $200 in alterations, we are still under $500 for the wedding dress. Nice.

Our friends took us on a tour of the downtown area and we found a gastropub for dinner. It was okay. Not as good as I am used to in terms of this kind of food, but definitely acceptable. More importantly we enjoyed the company and had fun. When we got back they headed home and we ran to Walmart. We realized we now have a second bathroom and needed stuff for it. Plus we wanted to see how the Walmart is in that area. It was pretty hopping for 11pm to be honest. We got an over toilet shelving unit, shower curtain, and towels for the new bathroom. We got into 'bed' around midnight and that's when B started having a panic attack. She didn't have any of her normal stuff, the cat needed food, all the things caused her to stress out and she made me drive us back to the old place. Yes, I was pretty pissed off, but I understand. She just apologized again to me. I wasn't upset at going home it's just I was already half asleep. Regardless, I got her home and here we are. Today I don't want to do anything. Move some boxes around, reorganize, etc. Otherwise, nothing major.

Let the Sunday begin.

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Y6 D76

An incredibly long day yesterday. Filled with travel, irony, miscommunication, and friends. We will start with miscommunication. Before I went to bed I sent my sister a message on facebook. I had tried calling her earlier and she didn't answer so I asked her to call me. I ended up going to bed a half an hour later. It wasn't any big deal I just wanted to know whose birthdays were which days this month. There are like four and I didn't want to mess up. She called me back but forgot about the time difference and that I was already asleep. Well that sent her into a panic and she texted B who texted me. All of this I discovered when I woke up at 2:30am CST. After calming everyone down with some orange slices and fetal spooning, I went about my day. I left for the airport around 3:50am CST and had no issues at STL. Had my upgrade, boarded first, was there by 7:50. All good. Now. Here comes DFW. As usual, the bane of my existence.

There was an earlier flight home, 8:55, compared to my 10:55. Ok cool. Same terminal, about 10 gates down. Seeing as I had 2.5 hours to kill, I decided to try and go standby. I get to the gate and the agent lets me know there are 23 people already on the standby list. I tell her to put my name in anyway, let's see how my status compares. After she puts my AA number in, she laughs to herself. I said "I went to the top didn't I?". Yep. I just bumped 23 people. So they get about halfway through boarding when she starts processing standby. By then someone else had higher than me so I was second, and some other was third. In total 3 of us bumped these other 23 people. I had a decent bulkhead exit seat which wasn't bad given I was standby. But when we get on the plane we all notice it's 900 degrees. After 10 minutes the pilot tells us there is something wrong with the AC and deplanes us all. Long story long, by the time we all get reboarded and ready to go? 10:45. I was right on schedule to my original flight. I landed 5 minutes earlier than I would have. Upside, is I found out my original flight was delayed 27 minutes so in the end I did technically get home 30 minutes early, but... Especially since I gave up a better seat on that other flight and spent 4 hours next to a very large woman whose elbows kept poking me including so bad once it made me jump as I was starting to drift off. Needless to say after I was afraid to sleep. I ended up reading the whole way and finished a book. I ended up reading three books total on this trip.

B picked me up and then the errands began. I got the cashier's check needed for today, picked up a new modem for the new place so we can have internet at both, went to CVS for B, had lunch. By the time we got home it was 1:30 PST. So basically I had been up for 13 hours at this point. We then proceeded to deal with boxes and shit here as we are getting the keys today. By now it's almost 5 and we went for italian for dinner. While were at dinner we discussed our dresser situation. Since the new place has more closet space, we decided to get rid of one our dressers. Less to move. More room. We texted one of our friends and they came over around 8 to pick up the dresser and hang out. We ended up sitting around and talking until 12:30am. Total time awake, 24 hours. I finally went to bed around 1. Here it is 6:30 and I am back up again. Whee.

But today is the big day. This should actually be fun. We get the keys AND the dress B ordered from China has arrived and is waiting at our friend's house near the new place. We didn't know when it would arrive so we used their address. Cross your fingers this dress works and we won't have to spend any more money.

Time to get ready.

Friday, August 8, 2014

Y6 D75

Yay another travel day. My excitement knows no bounds. At least I have upgrade confirmed for one of my two flights. Better than nothing.

Taught my final day yesterday. It was more of a mentoring day so I sat around a lot while they talked amongst themselves of what to do with their new knowledge. We built a few sample dashboards and layouts and then they demoed these to their end users while I added commentary from the side lines.

Finished up around 4 and went down to the bar around 6. I was talking with one of the bartenders and I showed him how I tweeted his excellent service and how quickly Doubletree responded. He was very impressed and bought me a free drink. Cool. I can handle that.

Headed back to the room around 8. Had some dessert in the concierge lounge and went to bed around 9:30. Oh the wild and crazy life I lead.

I also dealt with changing my insurance policies to the new address, getting the total number for move-in tomorrow, dealing with a depressed B, and answering some idiot emails.

It was a long busy day and there's no end in sight to the madness this weekend. I am about to be very stressed out all weekend long.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Y6 D74

Do you know what the best kind of food is? Free food. And I had a lot of that yesterday. From my free breakfast in the concierge lounge in the morning, to the free pizza they brought in for lunch, on to the a free dinner with the client, and back in that concierge lounge for dessert. I paid for naught yesterday and ate pretty damn well.

Class was straight forward, no issues from that. After class I was supposed to have a conference call with another client but they ended up being late and when they called finally at 6:40, I refused the call. Sorry but if you are supposed to call me at 4:30 and you're two hours late, it's not my problem. The manager of the group I am teaching wanted to chat last night and invited me to dinner. Since he is the one paying for everything, I had to play nice and go. We went to Landry's Seafood which while a bit of a chain, was pretty good. I had a seafood platter that was alright. Not the freshest seafood I have ever had, but acceptable.

After dinner I went back to my room, relaxed, then hit the lounge for cheesecake. I ended up falling asleep around 10.

Today is my last day. I get to head home and deal with moving. Whee.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Y6 D73

I slept like shit last night. I don't like forced air and the windows here don't open at all. I prefer outside air over a/c but that option isn't available to me.

Yesterday I woke up to a thunderstorm which was kind of cool. The sky was lit up with lightening and pouring rain. It was quite beautiful. The downside is that threw off my plans to walk to the client. I ended up taking a cab 1.5 miles. Felt dumb, but didn't have much of a choice.

Class went well. It's a good room setup and I have about 8 students which is a good size to make it intimate yet productive. We got through the material with no issues. It's also a pretty sharp group. We were doing advanced report development and everyone got through it without issue. There were some side discussions as often happens with more advanced groups but nothing that was a problem. After class I managed to get a ride back to the hotel.

I had dinner at the bar after walking around the small mall area attached to the hotel. I picked up a shot glass for B as well as some trinkets for my class. No crapmart here for me to get goodies. Dinner was a seafood salad and sliders.

Went back to the room and felt a headache coming on. I sat in bed and finished one of the books I brought with me. Ended up falling asleep around 10 but woke up a million times.

Go home now please.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Y6 D72

I stay at a lot of Hilton properties, but this one here in St Louis is hands down one of the nicest, most beautiful properties I have ever stayed at. It is an old train station that has been converted to a hotel and wow, is it gorgeous. It has that old school hotel charm with all sorts of updated amenities. The rooms have real furniture and giant brass door knockers. The lobby is huge with a bar running the full length of what was the main terminal. The floor I am on has a special concierge room with an evening spread that should allow me to avoid having dinner all together. I am about to see what breakfast looks like. Everything is locked with iron gates requiring key access including the old school brass elevator. This is what hotel life should be like in my mind. I am very impressed so far.

Was up at 2:45 yesterday, left for the airport at 4. Didn't get either of my upgrades yesterday. My first flight was 20 minutes late due to having to reboot the plane. That wasn't so bad. My second flight was much worse. We were about 30 minutes late and that was due to a gate change and humans. This large family of about 10 consisting of 4 adults and 6 children ranging in age from 16-5 were throw a shit fit because they weren't all sitting together. And we aren't talking major separation either. Like one or two rows difference. But this woman was SCREAMING on the plane at the flight attendant "I WILL NOT BE APART FROM MY BABIES!". Bitch sit your ass down. Needless to say, the poor attendant had to stop people from coming on until she made this woman happy. Kudos to that attendant for not stabbing a bitch. Arrived around 4 local time and my driver was waiting for me. Good driver. Funny but not overly talkative. Got to the hotel about 4:30.

Talked with B for a while and then explored this place. Had dinner in the restaurant. Pork belly, duck confit salad, and butternut squash ravioli. Nice. Went to the concierge lounge around 8:30 for dessert. Watched some Misfits and headed to bed around 10.

I tried walking to the client last night but gave up halfway. I am going to try walking again today, but it may be just a little too far. I may have to take a cab tomorrow. We shall see.

Time for my free breakfast.

Monday, August 4, 2014

Y6 D71

Time to make the donuts. Or get on a flight. Same thing, right?

Didn't do much of anything except replace a pair of sunglasses I lost. That was our big time out. We got home around 3, I slept for 3 hours, got up, checked in for my flight, then went back to bed until noon. That was kind of nice actually. A full amount of sleep. Around 1 we went to the mall, got home around 4 and then watched Misfits. At 6, B, the kid, and a couple of our friends all drove to our director's house for a party. I stayed home because I knew I would be going to bed well before they would want to come home. Boy was I right. I watched another episode of Misfits, played a little Diablo, and then was in bed by 9:40. At 1:20 B came home. So yeah, I had been asleep for a while that's for sure.

Off to St Louis.

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Y6 D70

I was so annoyed last night. I just didn't want to be there and it was one of those nights where the fun was sucked out of the show for me. I got through it without any drama or arguments, but it wasn't very much fun. It was one of those show nights where it felt like a job not a hobby.

Didn't do anything during the day. I got up around 8 something, B shortly thereafter. We both realized we didn't have anything pressing to do, and she went back to bed. She slept until 11. We watched Misfits for most of the day. We didn't even leave the house. Both of us took a nap around 5. We had a light dinner, then went to the show. Home around 3.

That's it. Tomorrow, St Louis.

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Y6 D69

Now that was a Friday night. Damn. I was 'drunk' for about 7 hours straight. I use the words in quotes because I never made it to hard core drunk. More of a nice solid buzz. Which was nice. I feel pretty good this morning even with going to bed at 4:15am. Why the debauchery? Moving. Elaboration:

Yesterday I had nothing on my plate really and in the morning I conferred with my boss and he gave me the day for packing. Which is how B and I spent the majority of the day. From about 9 until 1 we packed. We finished off the clothes (after doing laundry) and one of the big sore spots, the kitchen. That was 9 boxes unto itself. As a result, we discovered a good number of half or quarter full bottles of booze. We already had one set of friends coming over to hang out and decided to invite two more. The six of us started eating and drinking around 7 and everyone left at 4. But mission accomplished. We polished off everything that was going to have to be packed. Sense of accomplishment. We also played games, talked, and had a really fun night. Nobody got stupid or made any party faux pas. A good fun night was had by all.

Because of all the packing we did yesterday, we can take today easy. I need to pack for my next trip as well as check-in for my flight, but that's about it. We have a show tonight and we don't have to arrive at it stressed out.

Friday, August 1, 2014

Y6 D68

This is the last time I will have to pay rent here. After 4.5 years, the final payment. Next month I will be paying rent for $500 less than I am right now. Booya. This makes me happy because that $500 will go a long way to knocking out some other things. This is going to be a tight month with moving expenses, but the rest of the year will be better. I will save $2000 between now and the end of the year. Think about that. 2 grand. That's a big chunk of money. That's our flight to MI. That's almost one of my big cards still hanging over me. Man this is going to be an exciting time.

Did a bunch of catch up work yesterday. Emails, admin work, etc. Got through it all by about 4. We had friends come over last night and we went out for a nice dinner with them. Came back and played CAH. Just a nice relaxing night.

Took care of stuff for moving yesterday too. Reserved the truck, switch utilities, and got internet setup for the new place. All sorts of admin stuff.

I need to do laundry since I leave again on Monday for St Louis. I also need to pack.